Although the present invention may be used with any type apparatus including but not limited to phones, MP3 type players, pda's, etc., the invention has particular applications when used with all types of apparel. The present invention has particular utility with footwear, more particularly athletic shoes. An athletic shoe is a generic name for a shoe designed for sporting activities, as differentiated from, for instance, dress shoes, today they are worn much more widely as casual footwear, more commonly known in the art as sneakers.
The first sneaker was invented back in 1893. It was made of canvas and was invented so boaters would not have to wear dress shoes when they were on deck. In 1916 the United States Rubber company first coined the term sneaker for their Keds brand, because the rubber soles made the shoes quiet. Since then, the sneaker has become an important part of contemporary youth fashion.
Sneakers that are worn casually are made with a more simple “retro” design which is made to be more aesthetically pleasing than sneakers specifically designed for sports or exercise. Ironically enough, however, sneakers that were once designed for athletic purposes are now more commonly used for fashion. Examples include Converse's Chuck Taylor All Star, Nike's Air Jordan, which were designed for basketball and Adidas' Samba, a soccer boot created for indoor soccer.
Today, sneaker sales gross in the hundreds of millions every year, with toddlers and teenagers being the target demographic. In order to gain the edge in the sneaker market, manufactures for years have been designing sneakers with many different features. Some of the more recent features, in the last fifty years, have included: sneakers with high tops, sneakers with pumps, sneakers with roller balls in their heels and sneakers with lights. The present invention relates to the latter, sneakers with lights.
For a number of years, articles of footwear and various items of clothing have been sold with decorative arrays of light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), electroluminescent (EL) light strips, and/or a loudspeaker capable of producing a sound. This has been particularly popular in children's shoes where the LEDs are arranged to complement other design elements of the shoe such as cartoon characters, logos, trademarks and the like.
Sneakers having various types of lighting devices incorporated therein are well known in the art. Lighting devices have been incorporated into a variety of footwear, including but not limited to dress shoes, athletic shoes, boots, sandals and the like. The inclusion of lighting devices in footwear has been utilized for a number of reasons including permitting the wearer to see or be seen in reduced light situations; to provide special effects during entertainment events; or as an element of fashion on the part of the wearer.
Prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,607, issued to Guzman, includes an article of clothing having an electrical circuit, a battery, one or more integrated circuits connected to a signal device such as an array of LEDs and/or a loudspeaker, and, at least one switch which is operative to activate the integrated circuit(s) in response to the application of a magnetic field to the switch from a permanent magnet located externally of the article of clothing.
Other prior art, such as United States Published Patent Application 2006/0002134, invented by Capriola, includes fiber optic cable, a clasp and a control circuit. The illuminating device is optically coupled to one or both of the connectors in order to illuminate at least a portion of the fiber optic cable with light. At least one of the clasp and illuminating device is removable to permit interchangeable selectivity of the color of the illuminating light.
Other prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,070, issued to Omstead et al. Provides, illuminated footwear including a translucent sole insert housing LEDs, preferably of different colors which may be combined to produce a wide array of colors is provided. The heel similarly includes a translucent insert and includes an interior mirror material and an illumination source. An on/off switch in the toe of the footwear is connected in a circuit with a replaceable battery, a control processor and the LEDs. The control processor includes logic that may dim, strobe, or shut off all or some of the LEDs. In operation, when the device is activated, the LEDs are illuminated. The light from the individual LEDs is blended and reflected by the interior mirror materials in an outward direction from the shoe. The translucent material in the sole and heel of the shoe allows the blended light to pass through to create a pleasing visual effect.
Typically, a module including a plastic housing is placed in a cavity usually formed in the heel area of the shoe. The module mounts a battery, a switch and conventionally an integrated circuit which is connected by wires to LEDs, EL light strips and the like, are positioned along the outsole, upper portion or tongue of the shoe. The integrated circuit may also be capable of generating a signal which operates a loudspeaker, typically mounted in the upper or tongue of the shoe in the general area of the LEDs. Systems of this type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,525,487; 6,286,975; 6,012,822; 5,969,479; 5,894,201; 5,812,063 and others.
The integrated circuits employed in modules for footwear and other applications are activated by the switch associated with the module. In most designs, the switch is not operated manually but turns on and off in response to the application of an inertial force, pressure or motion. Spring switches such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. RE 37,220 and 5,909,088 are a popular choice for children's shoes because they are reliable, noiseless and movable from a neutral or off position to a closed or on position in response to walking, running or other motion of the shoe. Pressure switches such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,159,768; 5,649,376; 5,855,080 and 5,714,706 are also employed and they operate in response to the application of a weight, e.g. when the child steps onto a surface.
Another type of switch employed in children's shoes and similar applications is a magnetically activated switch such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,422,628 and 5,343,190. In these designs, a reed switch and a permanent magnet are mounted within the heel or other area of the shoe. The magnet is movable between a first position where it is spaced from the reed switch and a second position close to the reed switch. A spring normally biases the magnet to the first position, but when motion or an inertial force is applied to the shoe, the magnet overcomes the spring force and moves to the second position where its magnetic field causes the reed switch to close.
In the present garment market there is a need for a garment that can be illuminated so as to highlight different areas of the garment in a cost effective manner.